NewsNew court ruling casts further doubt on IAG-NIKI dealAn Austrian court in Korneuburg has ruled that the NIKI insolvency proceedings and asset sale should restart from scratch, further casting doubt on International Airlines Group (IAG) acquiring NIKI. NIKI—which filed for insolvency Dec. 13, 2017 and abruptly ceased operations—sealed a deal at the end of December to be acquired by IAG for €20 million ($24 million). However, that was based on insolvency proceedings taking place in Germany. A Berlin regional court ruled earlier this week that bankruptcy proceedings should be conducted in Austria rather than in Germany.
LinkLufthansa calls for Alitalia to make major cutsLufthansa wants Alitalia to undertake significant restructuring before the German group would be prepared to buy the struggling airline, its CEO has told the Italian government.
LinkOcean Infinity wins contract from Malaysia to resume MH370 searchMarine survey firm Ocean Infinity said it has received a contract from the government of Malaysia to resume searching for the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200 that disappeared in March 2014.
LinkNew Delhi to allow foreign investment in Air IndiaThe Indian government has eased ownership rules surrounding Air India, allowing up to a 49% stake to be held by foreign investors. The decision, announced following a meeting of the Indian government’s Cabinet on Jan. 10, is part of the policies of the pro-business government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to liberalize and simplify the country’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy to make it easier to do business there.
LinkGovernment takes control of Air Malta slotsThe government of Malta has created a new state-owned company that will take control of the airport slots owned by the Mediterranean nation’s national carrier.
LinkXiamen Air to buy 150 CFM LEAP-1B engines for MAX aircraftChina’s Xiamen Air has committed to purchase 150 CFM LEAP-1B engines and MRO support for 20 engines, valued at $2.05 billion. The MOU was signed in conjunction with French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to China earlier this week.
LinkVietnam Airlines waits for ULR aircraft to open US west coast servicesVietnam Airlines (VNA) is considering nonstop services to the US west coast, but must wait for ultra-long range aircraft to become available for nonstop transpacific flights from Vietnam.
LinkKenya Airways to launch first US services in October 2018Kenya Airways will launch daily Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta-New York JFK services on Oct. 28, becoming the first airline to offer a nonstop flight between East Africa and the US. Kenya Airways Group MD and CEO Sebastian Mikosz said the new service “fits within our strategy to attract corporate and high-end tourism traffic from the world to Kenya and Africa.”
LinkRolls-Royce announces new US facilityUK engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce will operate a jet engine testbed at Alliance Airport in Fort Worth, Texas. The engine manufacturer has signed a lease to take over the 440,000 sq. ft. former Texas Aero Engine Services LLC (TAESL) facility, of which the testbed is a part. Rolls-Royce also recently announced the development of a new testbed facility at its headquarters site in Derby, UK, as part of an ongoing commitment to support the growth in delivery of engines expected over the coming years.
LinkPegasus excursion leaves 737 balanced on cliff slopeAll 162 passengers and six crew members have survived an extraordinary runway excursion accident which left a Pegasus Airlines Boeing 737-800 precariously balanced on a steep cliff slope at Trabzon. The aircraft (TC-CPF) had arrived at the Black Sea resort as flight PC8622 from Ankara on 13 January.
LinkGKN to reorganise after rejecting takeover bidUK aerostructures manufacturer GKN has rejected a takeover bid from turnaround specialist Melrose Industries and disclosed a plan to separate its aerospace and automotive activities as part of a two-year business-improvement plan. GKN says Melrose's "preliminary and unsolicited" offer to purchase the entire shareholding was "entirely opportunistic", and that the terms "fundamentally undervalue the company and its prospects".
LinkDARPA completes second phase of swarming demoThe Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has completed the second phase of its collaborative control technology for unmanned air systems demonstration, the next step in an effort to orchestrate swarms of legacy UAS with the hand of a single human operator. Lockheed Martin and Raytheon collaborated with six smaller companies on the phase 2 demonstration for Collaborative Operations in Denied Environment (CODE), flying RQ-23 Tigersharks modified with CODE hardware and open architecture software, according to an 8 January DARPA release. Phase 2 built on earlier work that developed algorithms to control the UAS in environments with limited communication and controlled the aircraft’s flight direction, altitude, speed and sensors.
LinkJetBlue reports higher capacity, drop in load factor for Dec.JetBlue Airways reported that its capacity in December was 4.93 billion available seat miles, up 4.4% over December 2016. The carrier's load factor dropped 1.4% for the month, to 82.7%.
LinkUnited reports increase in RPMs, drop in load factor for Dec.United Airlines reported 18 billion revenue passenger miles in December, up 2.7% from December 2016's 17.6 billion. The carrier's capacity increased 3.7% to 22 billion available seat miles for the month and its load factor was 82.3%, a year-over-year drop of 0.8%.
Link American Airlines' flight attendants able to compensate passengers in-flightAmerican Airlines will soon enable its flight attendants to compensate travelers with additional AAdvantage points. The iSolve software needed to award points on the spot will be added to flight attendants' tablets later this month.
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